


Sweater Weather

by bananamuffin



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Arizona Coyotes | Phoenix Coyotes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 13:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8919715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bananamuffin/pseuds/bananamuffin
Summary: Connor was glad Christmas was only a week away because he could not stop thinking about the gift from Tobi’s mom.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WrittenFire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenFire/gifts).



> I wanted to write something that would relate to but also take my mind off a longer Murph/Tobi fic I'm working on, so [WrittenFire](http://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenFire/profile) asked for Murph/Tobi + "my mom knitted you a sweater" because she loves me, and gabby played editor, so again without them I'd get nothing done ever

Connor eyed Tobi suspiciously when he came out of his room, arms laden with so many boxes that Connor could barely see the top of Tobi's head. He watched as Tobi carefully placed them under their fake tree, which they decorated together the week before, and gave Tobi a look when he finally straightened and faced him. 

"Who are those for?" Connor asked, narrowing his eyes.

Tobi smiled at him. "People. That are not you."

From his spot on the couch Connor could clearly see at least three boxes with his own name scrawled in Tobi's handwriting. "I thought we said we were done buying gifts for this Christmas." 

Tobi rolled his eyes at Connor. "I saw you put two more boxes under there yesterday."

Connor couldn’t dispute this—he couldn’t help it if he saw perfect gifts every time he went out—so he pointed at a box under the tree with his name on it that was wrapped differently than the rest that Tobi had just brought out. Instead of the snowflake wrapping paper that Connor knew Tobi had been using, it was wrapped in plain brown paper, red and white yarn tied in a bow around it. This one had a small gift tag on it, with "To: Connor" written in tiny handwriting that was definitely not Tobi's. "Who's that one from?"

Tobi scrunched his nose. He looked like he didn't want to answer, but Connor waited him out. Years of living together and now months of dating had taught Connor that Tobi would tell him anything as long as he was willing to wait. 

Tobi sighed. "It's from my mom. She just sent it over."

"Oh," Connor said. "That's cool." 

Tobi gave him a look that said it wasn't as cool as Connor thought.

Which, Tobi had presents from Connor's mom under the tree too, it's not a big deal. 

"She just...really likes you," Tobi said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Just keep that in mind when you open it."

Connor was still confused, but he smiled anyway. Hearing that Tobi's mom really liked him made him feel warm inside. Considering they had only met a handful of times, it was pretty reassuring. "Told your mom a lot about me, have you?" Connor asked with a grin. 

Tobi blushed. "I might have mentioned you once or twice. Nothing that good."

Connor laughed. Without getting up from the couch he stretched, reaching for Tobi's hand. Tobi caught on and stepped toward Connor, lacing their fingers together so Connor could pull him in until Tobi was standing between his knees. He took Tobi's other hand in his and said, "I'm glad she likes me 'cause i'm kinda in love with her son." 

Tobi rolled his eyes but he smiled, too. "Cheesy," he said, then let Connor pull him into a kiss. "I've got more gifts to wrap," Tobi said when he pulled back, disentangling their fingers so he could step away. “I promise none of them are for you.”

“They better not be!” Connor called after him as he walked back into the bedroom.

He made a mental note not to bring out the rest of Tobi’s presents until he was home alone.

~

Connor was glad Christmas was only a week away because he could not stop thinking about the gift from Tobi’s mom. On its own it was a nice gesture but Tobi’s reaction made him curious. And Tobi had said it himself: his mom really liked Connor. How could the gift be that bad?

For the next week, whenever Connor was in the living room he found himself looking at the box and trying to imagine what might be inside. Tobi didn’t seem super happy about it, which meant he clearly knew what the gift was. The fact that he was still willing to give it to Connor meant it wasn’t anything inappropriate or something that Connor would be upset about.

“Stop looking at it,” Tobi said on Thursday, reaching up to lightly push Connor’s face in the opposite direction. “You’re never going to guess.”

“Just tell me why you made that face,” Connor whined. They were back on the couch watching Elf and even though Connor loved Will Ferrell, he couldn’t help but focus on the gift instead of the movie. “That face!” Connor said as Tobi scrunched his nose again.

“S’nothing,” Tobi said. He shifted so that he was tucked up against Connor’s side and under his arm. “Just watch the movie.”

Connor sighed. However much he wanted to know what the gift was, he wanted to make Tobi happy even more. He pushed all thoughts of the gift out of his mind and focused on the movie.

When Christmas finally came around, Tobi positioned himself in front of the tree to hand Connor his gifts, relegating Connor to the floor in front of the couch. Connor was hoping the mysterious gift would come sooner rather than later, but they made it through all of the gifts they got each other, the gifts from their family, and even the gifts from Connor’s mom to Tobi before Tobi pulled the simply wrapped box from under the tree.

“Finally,” Connor said, grabbing the box eagerly from Tobi’s hands. He held it for a moment, letting the suspense build a little more while Tobi, wearing a slightly unimpressed expression, watched him.

He pulled carefully on the ends of the yarn to untie the bow. He found all the places that the paper had been taped down and slipped his fingers under the tape, slowly revealing a plain white box underneath. He lifted the lid to see a dark grey knitted fabric resting inside.

He pulled it out and held it in front of him. “It’s a sweater,” he said,

“Yeah,” Tobi said. The sound of his voice made Connor lower the sweater so he could see Tobi’s face; the corners of his mouth were starting to turn down.

“No, I love it!” Connor said quickly, holding it back up so he could look at it again. It looked handmade, not that he knew much about knitting, and the color was really nice. “It’s really soft,” he said, rubbing a sleeve between his fingers. “I just...did not expect it to be a sweater after all of this,” he said. He lowered the sweater again to smile at Tobi, who was starting to smile, too.

“My mom made it,” Tobi said. He picked through his own presents for a moment before pulling out a dark blue sweater that looked similar to the one Connor had gotten. “She makes them for everyone in the family.”

“That’s really nice of her,” Connor said. He was trying, and failing, to fight a pleased blush at the fact that Tobi’s mom thought of him as family. “Wait,” he said, things suddenly clicking. “Is that why you were embarrassed to give it to me? Because they’re for family?”

Tobi looked down at his feet, embarrassed. “She doesn’t usually make them for boyfriends,” Tobi admitted. “And especially not boyfriends of just a few months.”

Connor watched Tobi for a minute, thinking. “So,” he said, “she just really likes me then?”

He just barely caught the ball of wrapping paper that Tobi threw at his head. “I told you that,” Tobi said, but he was smiling again.

Connor couldn’t help but laugh. Tobi crawled over and sat next to Connor in front of the couch.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about it,” Tobi said after a minute. “We haven’t been dating _that_ long and it’s kind of a big deal for her, you know?”

“You thought I’d be scared off by a sweater?” Connor teased.

Tobi groaned and turned his face into Connor’s shoulder. “It’s not funny.”

“It kind of is,” Connor laughed. He reached his arm around Tobi and squeezed his shoulder. “Tobi. Tobes, look at me.”

Connor pushed lightly at Tobi’s shoulder until he leaned back to meet Connor’s gaze.

“I am completely, one hundred percent happy to be considered part of your family,” he said. The grin on his face felt really big, and it grew as Tobi’s face lighted up.

“I’m glad,” Tobi said, smiling. He pulled Connor down for a brief kiss. “Because there is no returning that sweater.”

Connor laughed again and let Tobi pull him down to the carpet, kissing him lightly as he went.

When they got ready for the day a few hours later, Connor pulled the sweater on. It felt nice and warm and made him feel like he was back in Ohio, where he actually needed sweaters to survive the winter.

He walked out into the living room to see that Tobi was wearing his sweater, too. When Tobi saw him, the smile on his face almost made Connor blush with happiness.

Connor didn’t need a sweater to feel like Tobi’s family, but he was glad he had one anyway.


End file.
